Along Bellona Avenue this week signs objecting to the Sheppard Pratt mental health residential treatment home sprouted along the road. The signs direct readers to the website for Neighbors Against the Sheppard Pratt Hotel which has over 230 Facebook likes. While opposition is mounting, the hospital completed the sale last week and plans to go forward with opening the six-bedroom home on LaBelle Avenue. Like it or not, there is little residents can do: Sheppard Pratt’s proposal is protected by federal and state housing laws.
The website listed on the sign is a far cry from presenting any persuasive argument against the project. The closest it comes is a brief paragraph stating that SheppardPratt has a permit for a group home, but this protest group “believes it is not a group home”. On what do they base this belief? Then it states that their problem stems from the notion that the proposed home will instead be used to house affluent visitors from out of town. They object to people bringing money into the area? Huh? Where’s that coming from?
I don’t live in that area, so I don’t know who is the driving force behind this protest. But I wonder if it is a neighbor who is convinced that the property taxes will go up if the land is improved? If so, he should look across the street from the group home address; a quick look on Google map showed a construction project going on there, too. Ooooh, what if that homeowner forgot to get a zoning permit?